Photo credit: TerraChoice website La dernière année a bourgeonné de 'publicité verte'. À l'heure actuelle, les compagnies se font la compèt' pour tenter d'être les plus 'vertes' afin d'attirer la clientèle. On se bouscule pour écrire des trucs comme 'fait de produits naturels', 'biodégradable', 'nous vous offrons un produit vert', 'nous nous soucions de l'environnement', ETC. Tous ces mots apaisants pour le consommateur peuvent être catégorisés sous une pratique que l'on appelle la 'mascarade écologique' ou le 'Greenwashing'. Terra Choice a publié son rapport intitulé ' Les six sept péchés de la mascarade écologique ' (The Six Seven Sins of Greenwashing) où vous trouverez des trucs pour ne pas vous faire avoir par les compagnies qui tentent de vendre des produits en prêchant être aussi verts que des kiwis. Vous serez surpris pour ce que vous pouvez tomber... Bonne lecture! - marie-pierre ( h...

Check out this post from an anonymous campus community forced to do a waste audit... The amount of coffee cups contaminated at Fauteux Hall, in the Faculty of Law building, is shocking and depressing. How difficult can it be to properly empty out the left-over coffee from the cups and throw them in the correct bin? It may mean nothing to you but it means the world for the person sorting out these cups. Everyone complains about the environment, but some people still don’t recycle properly on campus. Wondering what happens to your coffee cups after you are done drinking? I bet you’d say they are recycled, right?! That's true, except, many coffee cups still end up in landfills. Most coffee cups processed for recycling still have lots of coffee in them because people don’t throw out what’s left, which unfortunately contaminates the cups. The contaminated cups—where the coffee liquid has deeply penetrated the layer of the coffee cups— end up in garbage bags destined for landfills while ...

Hopefully you know where to get fair trade goods on campus. Café Alt sells fair trade coffee exclusively, Chartwells locations have at least one choice that is fair trade. T-shirts purchased through the SFUO are fair trade...Not much else is offered on campus that’s fair trade. Have you ever heard of Fair Trade Towns? It’s a campaign that essentially creates standards for a town to go entirely fair trade. There are criteria that a town must achieve, like passing a resolution at city council in support, and to using only fair trade coffee and tea at meetings and in the office. It’s then up to the businesses to offer fair trade products, and if enough do, you’re closer to becoming a fair trade town. Attract some media coverage and strike a steering committee devoted to planning for the future, and you have yourself a fair trade town. We can replicate this model on university campuses. The student union and the administration passing motions and devoting themselves to fair trade products ...

Do you see a need to eliminate the sale of bottled water on our campus? Do you still buy bottled water? Do you think it’s easy to get an entire campus to boycott bottled water? Should we stop buying it to show the university that it should not be sold on campus? I certainly boycott bottled water, and know many people who do, but that wave takes a long time to catch on. Let’s try a more proactive approach. With all of the hard work that’s gone into water fountain infrastructure and Bottled Water Free Day, and even some of the municipal water ads the city has been putting out, we are close. Spread the word, just a thought. That’s it for now. Enjoyed Bottled Water Free Day this week on Thursday, March 11. There will be tons of events including water tasting, film screenings, and important discussions. And in the evening you can join our engineers and architects for the “no idea too green” discussion on the new student centre. Check out www.bottledwaterfreeday.ca for more info -sarah jayn...

‘Starting March 2010, SunChips® bags will be made from more than 90% renewable, plant-based materials – allowing it to completely break down in a hot, active compost pile in about 14 weeks.’ About the bag It is about time! There’s way too much packaging waste that comes with the foods we eat, and most of the time this packaging is not reusable, not recyclable nor compostable. These new bags are certified through the Biodegradable Products Institute (BPI), which means that they can be composted in many waste management programs (such as the Green Bin Program). I am not sure of the City of Ottawa will accept them; information will surely become available soon. I am going to be piloting a few in our new electric composter in the next couple of weeks. The organic waste spends about six to eight weeks in our machine, and then four to six weeks maturing in a pile. According to the information on their website, the bags should be gone by the 14th week. We will keep you posted on the developm...

‘À compter de mars 2010, les sacs SunChips® seront fabriqués avec plus de 90 % de matières végétale renouvelable. Ils pourront ainsi se décomposer entièrement en plus ou moins 14 semaines lorsque placés dans un tas de compost actif à « chaud ».’ À propos du sac Je crois que c’est à peu près temps! Il y a beaucoup trop d’emballages non-réutilisable, ni recyclable ou biodégradable (compostable) qui accompagnent notre nourriture. Ces nouveaux sacs sont certifiés par le BPI (Biodegradable Products Institute), ce qui signifie que ces sacs de croustilles peuvent être récupérés aux fins de compostage dans le cadre de nombreux programmes de gestion des déchets (tels que le programme de Bac Vert). Je ne suis pas certaine si la ville d’Ottawa acceptera ces sacs dans leur nouveau système – à suivre. Je vais bientôt faire un essai (projet pilote) avec notre propre composteur électrique. Les déchets organiques passent six à huit semaines dans la machine et un autre quatre à six semaines dans une p...

Wow, things are starting to get really busy... I might even venture to say ridiculously busy. Nope, maybe we are quite there yet, but we are close. My boss predicted that 2010 would be the year of sustainability and that we would become so busy we wouldn't have time to think as we got closer and closer to the tipping point. That being said, I suppose it didn't come as a surprise when I was asked to sit in on a planning meeting for the new Student Center. For those of you not in the know, the University of Ottawa and th Student Federation have been trying to negotiate a new University Center for years. The original Jock Turcot building was designed for a campus of about 15,000 to 17,000 students and I think that we are a little beyond that right now. So recently Physical Resources Services (PRS) and the SFUO have gotten together to finally design a new center. Just as an aside I wanted to mention the whole University Center vs. Student Center thing. The new center that is planne...

From March 1st to 12th an International Campaign called the “Teach-in for Climate Justice” is taking place, during which professors at Universities in BC, Ontario, and around the world are encouraged to put aside 20 minutes of class to discuss how Climate Justice is relevant to their discipline. Climate Justice brings together people of all different backgrounds and interests to recognize that those who will be, and already are, hit hardest by anthropogenic climate change are not the same as the industrial society that created the problem. Fewer days of frozen lakes make Canadian aboriginal communities that rely on ice roads less able to transport necessary supplies; drought in Sub-Saharan Africa is exacerbating the situation in already famine stricken areas; and sea level rising will soon leave millions of Bangladeshis without a home. In much of the industrialized world we have accumulated the capital to, at least preliminarily, buffer us from the effects of climate change. True Cl...

À mes chèr·e·s cinéastes, Samedi j'ai eu la chance de passer six heures à regarder des films environnementaux. Oh que de culture! Oh que d'information! Oh quel mal de fesses! Le festival, organisé par le groupe Katimavik (des jeunes canadien·ne·s font du bénévolat pendant plusieurs mois dans différentes communautés au Canada), avait lieu à Rockland. Ils ont diffusé 12 films et de ces 12, j'en ai vu 4 que je partage avec vous. Les descriptions sont une gracieuseté du programme Katimavik **je rajouterai mes commentaires + tard; pour l'instant je vais me coucher!: 1) L’erreur boréale (1999) Réalisateurs: Richard Desjardins & Robert Monderie ||| Durée: 69 min ||| Français Alors que le silence et l'ignorance règnent en maître sur nos forêts, et malgré le discours officiel qui nous assure que le patrimoine forestier demeurera intact, ce documentaire choc soulève la question de la responsabilité collective devant la destruction d'un environnement unique au monde. L...

Il est difficile d'organiser un événement sans impact sur l'environnement lorsqu'il est aussi vaste et complexe que les Jeux olympiques et paralympiques d’hiver de 2010. Toutefois, le Comité d’organisation (COVAN) a pris une approche agressive dans le but d'intégrer la durabilité dans les jeux. Donc nous allons mettre de côté la controverse du passé et regarder certaines actions positives qui ont été effectuées. Tout d'abord, le comité d'organisation de Vancouver a travaillé avec l’ International Academy of Sport Science and Technology (AISTS) pour créer un guide du sport et événement durable. « L'objectif est double : pour produire des opérations et des événements durables; et d'inspirer les athlètes, les commanditaires et les admirateurs à faire leur part pour un avenir durable. » [1] De nombreuses mesures intéressantes ont été mises en place pour atteindre les objectifs de développement durable afin de devenir les premiers jeux carboneutres. - ...

It is difficult to host an event with no environmental impact when it is as large and complex as the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (VANOC). However, VANOC has taken an aggressive approach with the aim of building sustainability into the Games. So let’s put some of the past controversy aside and look at a few positive things that have been done. First of all, the Vancouver Organizing Committee worked with the International Academy of Sport Science and Technology (AISTS) to create a Sustainable Sport and Event Toolkit (SSET). “The goal is twofold: to produce sustainable operations and events; and to inspire athletes, sponsors and fans to do their part for a sustainable future.” [1] Many interesting measures have been put into place to reach sustainability objectives in order to become the first Carbon-Neutral Games. - LEED standards have been incorporated into venue design and construction. Eight sustainable venues are taking the waste heat and reusing it. In...

Image obtained from Boogie Woogie Flu The SFUO elections are taking place on February 9th, 10th, and 11th. All undergraduate students will receive emails to their uOttawa accounts giving them a pin for online voting. This year sustainability has been a topic brought up by many candidates and is central to two of the referendum questions. The Green Referendum asks students to contribute $2.00 per ($1.00 per part-time student) to assist with the SFUO’s Sustainable Development initiatives. This levy would help to ensure that no matter what the priorities of the SFUO that year, sustainable development initiatives are still being supported. These funds would help in creating a visible Sustainability Center where all students, clubs, and federated bodies could go to learn about sustainability and how to access resources such as the Green events subsidy for clubs. The Bike Co-op being created at Lees campus would also be supported by this levy, ensuring that students will have an accessi...

Image coutesy of Metronews.ca Many municipalities, workplaces, and universities are contemplating becoming bottle water free and implementing bottle free zones. The Canadian Federation of Municipalities is urging all of its members to ban the sale of bottled water in municipally owned buildings. The University of Winnipeg became officially bottled water free last year. Even the University of Ottawa’s SFUO is taking action by not selling bottled water at their events or in some businesses, such as Cafe Alt. These changes are taking place as a response to the fact that approximately 1.5 million barrels of oil, enough to run 100,000 cars for a whole year, are used to make plastic water bottles, while transporting these bottles burns even more oil[1]. Furthermore, it costs up to 10,000 times more for bottled water than tap water, a ludicrous cost, especially when living on a student budget[2]. One Michigan company has decided to offer an “environmentally product” while benefitting from...

Have you ever drunk from one of the water fountains on campus? Did it look like this? Have you ever seen the newer fountains that have a spout that can fill up a water bottle, that are accessible, that are clean, and have cold water? That’s what I’m talking about. In the summer of 2008 and 2009, water fountain assessments were completed in order to find out the state of water fountains on our campus. Main reason being: the better fountain infrastructure we have, the more people will drink from it instead of buying bottled water. uOttawa, in its efforts to improve its status as a green university and also to improve the student experience, put aside $150,000 over two years to improve water fountain infrastructure based on the recommendations from the two reports from the summer assessments. One of the major recommendations this year was to put water fountains near food service locations like the cafeteria in SITE and UCU, since this is where most bottled water is sold. The idea is that ...

So something pretty cool is going to happen on Tuesday. It could have a substantial transformative impact on the campus community but we won’t really know until next week. But just the fact that it is going to happen is kind of inspirational in its own right. Okay, I am sure that you are quite aware that I am teasing you right now but come on; we all love a little suspense right? Well anyways on Wednesday, City Council will be listening to delegates talking about the U-Pass. This is part of a big push to get the City to adopt a U-Pass for students at $145 per semester. This alone isn’t really that amazing but I haven’t mentioned that the delegates of the various presentations include students from Carleton University and the University of Ottawa; as well as executives from both student federations. This continues a long tradition of intervention in the City of Ottawa by the respective universities. Believe it or not, the University of Ottawa has a vested interest in making sure that Ot...